Sunday Dinner: Herb Baked Portabellas

Sundays off are a rare treat for me. I either like to do something elaborate for dinner or go way simple. This weekend with all the running around I opted for real simple. One of our favorite easy meals are herb baked portabella mushroom caps. All we do is take a few medium to large portabella mushroom caps



Brush them with olive oil and top with herbs (this week we did basil, oregano, and the obligatory garlic)




Add cheese to the top (usually feta but mozzarella or Swiss works well too)and bake at 425 for about 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

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Home und Garten

To cap off a very busy weekend in Columbus (Hippies, Homos, and Geeks otherwise known as Comm Fest, Pride, and Origins) today was the annual German Village Home und Garten tour. After touring these homes (and a few open houses) I have decided that I want a new kitchen. Chris and i are just chock full of ideas for a new home.

What would a community tour be without a Market Place? Nothing! Of course there was a little Marketplatz set up in Schiller park where I had to do some shopping. At Circa Seeds we found a cool Maypop Passion Flower Vine and (what I am really excited about) a delfino cilantro that has more fern like leaves and is supposed to go to seed much slower than it's typical counterpart. Seeing as how my cilantro already bolted before I had a chance to do anything with it I am very excited to give this variety a shot. Has anyone worked with this type of cilantro before? Any hints or tips?

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Weekend Recipe Roundup

Grilled Corn Salad from Simply Recipes
Potato and Onion Frittata over at the Vegetarian Times
Blackberry Limeade from 101 Cookbooks
Ridiculously Easy Pineapple Sorbet from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

I'm always looking for great new (preferably vegetarian) recipes so if you know of a good one leave a comment with the link. . .

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New Blog and Bundt Mystery Solved

I found a new blog to read. . .Prudence Pennywise. She commented on my eggplant lament (thanks for the tip Prudence!) and I love the theme to her blog which is scandalously good food on a budget. That is one area where I just can't stick to a budget. I like to go crazy when I find a new recipe and blow $20-$30 on a new recipe (and pray that it turns out well). I have you subscribed in my RSS reader and I'm looking forward to some good shopping and cooking tips.

As for the bundt cake, I figured out the mystery of the uneven cooking all by myself. It occurred to me as I was washing the bundt pan that the hole in the middle is to allow the hot air to penetrate the middle of the cake. This is kind of prohibited if you do a mo-tard move like me and put the bundt pan on a baking tray in the oven. Don't ask me why I did this. I have no idea but it seemed logical at the time. Ah well, you live and you learn. . .at least the cake still tastes great!

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Barefoot Blogging

Today is the day we post our "success" with Ina's chicken Parmesan. Oh if only I could report success with attempting to make this a vegetarian dish. I will say this, the lemon vinaigrette turned out rather well but the rest of it went to hell in a hand basket. First off I think I cut my eggplant (which I was substituting for chicken) way too thin and I did not dry it well enough because the end result was just a soggy, groggy, mess. The texture of it sort of made me want to gag a little bit too which was too bad because I was looking forward to this recipe. Does anybody know a good, solid way of making eggplant Parmesan? The few times I have tried it it just turned out horrible but I have had it at restaurants and really enjoyed it.

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Raspberry Yogurt Bundt Cake

Chris and I both love raspberries and we both love cake so when I saw raspberries on sale yesterday I thought about a great raspberry yogurt cake that I had seen in Bon Appetit. I am not a baker, in fact this is the first non microwave cake I have ever baked and I think it turned out pretty darn good. It was easy (except for the fact we don't have an electric mixer and had to beat the sugar and butter by hand) and relatively quick.

The yogurt leaves the cake nice and moist and the almond extract gives the cake a nice yummy flavor without there actually being in the cake (Chris hates nuts in cake and bread so I try to keep that in mind and I usually remember). When I make it again I think I'm going to add more raspberries. The tartosity (I know it isn't a word yet but it will be. How do you think new words come into being? Somebody had to make it up) of the berries really contrasts well with the sweetness of the cake.

The only real problem I think I may have is why isn't the cake a uniform color? Is it supposed to be a uniform color? The outside is a nice golden brown but the inside is a pale gold? Is that how bundt cakes are supposed to be? Is there something I can do different to bake it more even?

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Mediterranean Tofu and Mushroom Scramble

I was very iffy at first about the idea of making a tofu scramble. I definitely had my doubts how it would taste and I definitely doubted that it would cook up like scrambled eggs. . .especially after running the tofu through the blender. Wow, was I glad to be proven wrong. The original recipe only called for sauteing button mushrooms but I didn't think that would be enough flavor. Tofu is this wonderful blank palette that you can add flavor to. That is why I add the porcini mushrooms and the herbs to give it a little more Italian flair.

Ingredients:
1 pound firm tofu cut into chunks
2 Tbs neutral oil
1/2 cup trimmed and sliced mushrooms (I used portabella)
A few dried porcini mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbs oregano chopped
2 Tbs chopped basil

Directions:
Soak the porcini mushrooms for about 20 minutes in boiling water. Drain and reserve about 1 tsp of the soaking water.



Put the tofu and the water from the mushrooms in a blender and let it run for a few minutes until the tofu is smooth then season with a bit of salt and pepper



Add the oil to a skillet and over medium heat cook the mushrooms (porcini and portabella) until they start to brown




Stir in the tofu and oregano and cook about 5-7 minutes (or as dry as you like it). Just before finishing it stir in the basil and cook another 30 seconds or so.


I at mine with ketchup just like it was eggs (I know, I am horribly mid western) and served some hash browns on the side.

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Vegetable Fritters

Tonight for dinner I made some yummy vegetable fritters. They are very much like latkes just made with vegetables instead of with potatoes. The basic recipe came from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman (this is the ultimate vegetarian cookbook. You really don't need any other cookbook than this one) with a few modifications of my own. For instance, Chris hates onions so instead of grating 1/2 an onion into the mix I used 4 minced garlic cloves.

Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini (peeled and grated)
1 decent sized parsnip (peeled and grated)
4 garlic cloves minced
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup flour
2% milk as needed (less than 1/4 of a cup)
Butter/olive oil/peanut oil

Mix the grated zucchini, parsnip, garlic, egg, cheese and flour together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and add enough milk so that the mixture just plops off of a spoon.

Heat oil or melt butter in a large pan or skillet or griddle and when hot (or the butter is melted) form pancakes (shaping with a fork) of the mixture.



Cook each side until golden brown (about 8 minutes a side) on medium heat so that the veggies brown up and cook through.


I served these with light ranch dressing because I ran out of time to make a yogurt sauce (that and I forgot to buy yogurt at the store. . .DOH!)

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Mission 3: The Egg

I am still hard at work practicing the art of shaping vegetables but I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time worrying over it. I'm going to move on to the next part of my self instruction. . .the incredible edible egg.

Every cooking competition I watch stresses the same point. The way to tell a good cook is to have them cook eggs. If they can cook eggs right then they get extra points and it isn't a good time when the eggs come out wrong. Sad to say but the only eggs I have ever made have been scrambled eggs and I usually over cook them to the point just before they get rubbery. I don't think I have even ever boiled an egg before. I think this situation needs to be rectified with some practice with this staple food.

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Weekend Recipe Roundup

Zucchini Muffins and Mexican Green Bean Salad from Simply Recipes
Chocolate and Espresso Brownies from Herbivoracious
Vegetarian Tortilla Soup and Banana Chip Cookies over at 101 Cookbooks
Polenta with Asparagus from Herbivoracious (again)

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Comfort Food

Chris and I are both under the weather with crappy summer colds. Summer colds suck. At least in the winter I don't really want to go out and about but in the summer I want to be out and doing stuff and a cold makes it just plain sucky. Tonight we had one of my favorite comfort foods. . .grilled cheese with pickles. I don't know when I started eating pickles with my grilled cheese but now I can't even eat a grilled cheese without pickles. They just taste incomplete without them. I love the salty, briny tang with the smooth cheesey goodness. I do miss having bacon on my grilled cheeses though. That is one downside to living in a vegetarian house, no bacon.

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Bring On the Heinz Mayo

This commercial made me chuckle. Something about the posh English accents and the New York "mom".

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Herb Snips

I have to tell you that I love my new herb snips. I grow a ton of herbs (well, a ton for living in an urban environment anyway) and these Silvermark Stainless Steel Herb Snips are awesome. Up until I got these I was just using regular scissors to trim my herbs but these are so much better for two reasons. The first is that the come apart easily for cleaning (you know how much gunk gets caught in the cracks when you are going to town clipping herbs) and the second, and most important, reason are the V grooves near the handle that you use to strip the leaves off of rosemary and thyme sprigs. I freaking love that feature! I realize that I could just strip the leaves off with my fingers but this just seems easier with the snips. This purchase was a much better way to spend $10 than the garlic zoom was.

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Pommes Rissoles

One of the things I am doing with my practice potatoes (you remember, the ones I can't cut worth a crap into a barrel shape) is to make pommes rissoles. I like to think of them as fancy French fries (or Freedom fries if you are still a hardcore Bush patriot. . .but then why would you be reading my blog if you were?). As you can tell I kind of gave up on the whole proper shaping thing. Really, how many freaking potatoes do you think I can cut in one sitting. I don't have a very long attention span. Anyway, what I like about the recipe is that you actually finish off the potatoes when you need them.
Step 1: layer potatoes in a single layer at the bottom of a large pot and just barely cover with water. Bring to a boil, remove promptly from heat and drain
Step2: Fry up the potato chunks in butter in a large frying pan (so they all sit in a single layer) tossing often until lightly golden brown
Step3: Right before serving bake them at 425 degrees until a knife goes cleanly and effortlessly to the center of the potatoes (about 10-12 minutes).

See, fancy French fries. I put a few sprigs of fresh thyme on the potatoes during the final step just to a little more flavor. So at least all my practice potatoes did not go to waste

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Mission 1: Shaping Vegetables (Tournage)

I had every intention of having a fabulous post today where I wowed you with my ability to cut perfectly shaped vegetables. Well, I have a post and I did shape some vegetables (and potatoes) but they bear very little resemblance to the delicate barrel shape of properly cut vegetables (something like this). Mine, instead, bear a resemblance to, well, badly cut vegetables and potatoes. It wasn't through lack of trying though.

The idea is to take a tubular vegetable and cut it into two inch chunks. From there you are supposed to take a paring knife and cut a ( shape to have a nice 7 sided barrel shaped vegetable. This is supposed to enhance presentation and create even sized food for even cooking.

Towards the end I did manage to get something sort of resembling a barrel. . .a massively lopsided barrel but still a barrel. I think a big part of my problem is that I have this fear of my paring knife. As I am cutting a slightly bowed shape out of a chunk of carrot I envision the paring knife sliding out of the carrot and just whacking off a huge chunk of my thumb. I did manage to get over most of that fear and attempted to shape potatoes without losing any tips of fingers. My practice potatoes I am using to make pommes rissoles. . .or fancy French fries as I like to think of them.

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The Next Food Network Star

Ah, Goodbye Jeffery!
I'm sorry, but when I think of soul food I think the person cooking it should have some soul and Jeffery did not. That isn't a bad thing, just a true thing. He should have stuck to classical types of food and he would have been much better off. I don't think he would have won it because he has no television presence but he could have gone further.
I really wanted to hate Lisa. I really, really did but I can't hate her. There is just something about that Vulcan woman that makes me not hate her despite the fact that she almost wet her panties when Martha Stewart came out. Is anyone surprised that Martha is an inspiration to her? I think what makes me want to hate her is that damn Vulcan hairdo. If she just styles her hair differently I think she would have a much better chance.
So did Nipa just phone in that sweet and spicy spice or what? Hello! I can mix sugar and cayenne at home and not have to pay extra for it. Would it have been that hard for her to mix up her own curry powder or some exotic Indian combo that would have had the buyers drooling?
I'm gonna have to go out on a limb and say the final three will be Adam, Lisa and Aaron. Kelsey has a chance if Aaron can't his presentation skills honed (and if she tones down the whole cheerleader rah-rah thing she has going on). I'm really glad Adam rocked the food today because he does have good television presence.

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Weekend Recipe Roundup

Chocolate Mint Cookies at Chef Tom Cooks
Vegan Carmel Flan at Veg Cooking Blog
Rhubarb Grapefruit Salad at My Husband Cooks
Sauteed Zucchini with Gruyere at Simply Recipes (I can't wait to try this one. . .it looks and sounds AMAZING!)
Rosemary Lemon Rhubarb Spritzers at Simply Recipes
White Asparagus Soup with Vanilla at delicious:days

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Outside Grilling

A few weeks ago Chris and I bought a little charcoal grill for outside. We didn't need anything big or fancy since we eat pretty much eat vegetarian (he is a total vegetarian and just eat that way at home, it is always easier to just cook one meal instead of two). This week I thought "Hey! I think I'll make veggie kebabs for dinner that'll be great!"

You see the pic there of the veggies grilling up and it looks like it would be really good doesn't it? Well, it wasn't. I have realized that I do not know how to grill. I think I must be way too impatient to be a good griller. First off I did not start the charcoal soon enough and I put way too much lighter fluid on it. Those coals went up like a mini blazing sun but then only the edges remained lit. I waited, oh, about 15 minutes before plopping my marinated veggies on the grill which turned out to not be a good idea since there was still not an even heat. Half the veggies burned, half the veggies stayed kinda raw.

Really, the only thing I accomplished with this grilling mission was smoking out all the neighbors as chunks of oil marinated vegetables feel onto the coals. I also learned that before making veggie kebabs I need to blanch my vegetables. I did, surprisingly enough, think far enough head to boil my potatoes before putting them on the grill so those cooked up nicely. The tofu ended up being bland, the eggplant and zucchini might as well have been raw (or the few pieces that were actually over heat were practically ash), the onion just curled in a crazy mess, but the mushrooms did come out tasting pretty good.

Bobby Flay would be so disappointed in me.

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Congratulations Stephanie

Woo-Hoo! Praise the tiny Lord Baby Jesus I can watch the next season of Top Chef! Not only did Lisa lose but Stephanie Izard won! Don't get me wrong, I would have been perfectly happy if Richard won (he is an amazing cook with great ideas) but Stephanie really won it for me with her humility. Every time she won a challenge she was genuinely thankful for the win and she never got cocky (well, at least not that we ever saw). Way to go Stephanie and I hope to see great things from you.

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Past Pesto and Peas

I completed my first mission for the Barefoot Bloggers. It was Ina Garten's pasta, pesto, and peas. I would have to say that overall I really enjoyed this dish (Chris absolutely loved it as is) but I would have made a few more changes than I already did.
What changes were those? Well, I am glad that I read the comments about this recipe that said to cut back the mayo. The recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of mayo! Really! Holy clogged arteries Ina! I only used 1/4 of a cup of mayo and that seemed to work out just fine. I also used an extra tablespoon of lemon juice just to give the sauce a little bit more edge. What I would have like to have done would be to add more garlic to the mix but, alas, my poor little blender choose that moment to die on me (you served me well) so no extra garlic this time. I did have to use canned pesto for this but that wasn't a bad thing. I haven't grown enough basil yet to make that much pesto and have you SEEN how much the grocery stores charge for a little thing of basil? If I would have bought basil to make 1 1/2 cups of pesto that would have used my grocery money for the week. $3.50 for a little box of basil that grows like a weed in my back yard? Oh well, I guess we all gotta make a buck somehow.

Oh, and when you make it unless you are going to a picnic or having guests over you may want to halve the recipe. I did not read the part where it says that this recipe serves 12 and while Chris and I eat a lot (okay, I eat a lot) we still have 4 large containers of it leftover for lunches (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). I will definitely be making this dish again but with a lot more garlic.

p.s.
I had a bunch of great pictures of this dish and the whole process of making it. Last night when I was clearing out my camera I had all the different files made for the different pictures (pics of friend's weddings, Las Vegas pictures, the nieces doing Tae-Kwon-Do, etc. . ) and I thought "Well I've already upload all the food pics so I can just delete those,". Well, you can guess the expletives that went through my mind as I hit the delete button then remembered that this post was coming up today. Yeah, not the smartest thing I've ever done.

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Mission 2: Cutting Mirepoix and Chiffonade

I love the word mirepoix. It is such a fancy word for cutting and combining chunks of aromatic veggies (usually 2 parts onion: 1 part celery: 1 part carrot) for flavoring soup stocks. The chunks don't even have to be shaped they just need to be about 3/4 of an inch in size so that everything cooks evenly.

Chiffonade is more fun (and fancy too). After washing and drying the leaves you stack them 3-4 high,


roll them into a tight cigar shape,


then cut the leaf crosswise (julienne) to create little ribbons of leaves



et voila! Garnish!
This works well as a garnish when making macerated strawberries with basil for dessert.

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Summer Strawberry Wine Spritzer

After reading through some strawberry basil martini recipes the other day I had a sort of epiphany that also solved another little problem I had. That little problem is that I have a ton of lemon verbena and I really don't know what to do with all of it. After muddling strawberries and basil for a martini I then had a flash of inspiration for the Summer Strawberry Wine Spritzer
Ingredients:
4 oz white wine
2-3 medium sized strawberries
3-4 lemon verbena leaves
dash of sugar
2-3 ounces Sierra Mist/ Gingerale

Directions:
Add wine, strawberries, lemon verbena and sugar to a martini shaker and muddle (mash the hell out of the strawberries). Strain the wine out over a glass of ice and top with the soda.
Bam! Done!
I made these today to go with dinner today and I was surprised to find out that they actually tasted good too.

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The Next Food Network Star

I finally got around to watching the show that I recorded Sunday and wow am I surprised. I'm not surprised that Kevin got kicked off because he was a tool (and totally generic) and not surprised the Adam is still on despite two horrible dishes (sure, he has failed in the cooking so far but he does have a lot of personality and presents himself well on T.V.). I am surprised that I find myself hating the Vulcan from Texas (Lisa) a lot less. Last week I couldn't stand her, this week I started to sort of like her. In contrast I really wanted to like Nipa but OMG that woman is getting on my last good nerve. I understand that it is stressful to be there but suck it up! You have the opportunity of a life time so use it well.
Is anyone else bothered by Jeffrey's lisp? I know I shouldn't mock but damn does it get on my nerves. I can't imagine watching an entire show listening to that man hiss out his esses. Kelsey (yeah, I know I completely spelled it wrong in last week's post) is still at the top of my list. Hopefully her perpetually perky attitude won't grow thin. I do want to see her dark side though. I just want to watch her snap and call somebody a stupid f***er or something.

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Mission 2: How to Cut Vegetables

I feel like an idiot right now. Last year I was trying to make julienne carrots and I was trying everything I could think of. . .graters, peelers, and even almost bought a mandolin to get those stupid carrots cut julienne style. Now I find out that it isn't hard at all. It follows a basic formula of tronconner, parer, tranches, julienne, brunoise (or for a thicker cut after tranches go to jardinière then macedoine).

What the hell am I talking about?
When I first read all those crazy French names for cuts I almost gave up but then I paid attention and now it makes sense.
1-Tronconner-to cut a washed an peeled veggie into 1 1/2 to 2 3/4 inch parts
2-Parer-taking the cut veggies and making them square from round (paring them down to be square)
3-Tranche- The pared item is then cut into slices. For jardinière (with macedoine following) the slices are thin (3/16 of an inch). For julienne the slices are very thin (1/32 to 1/16 of an inch)
4-Julienne (or jardiniere) you cut sticks from the tranches
5-Brunoise (or macedoine) cut the sticks into cubes

Not so bad then, eh?


In English you cut the veggie into parts about 2 1/2 inches long,


square it off,


cut slices off the parts


then make sticks from the slices


and cubes from the sticks.



If I had just known that last year I could have saved myself from a ton of aggravation. Do you know how much easier it is to cut julienne strips this way than it is to try to use a grater to get julienne strips? I don't recommend that you try to find out.

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Mission 2: Using a Chef's Knife

Before I get started on cutting the veggies I'm gonna post a quick video on how to use a chef's knife. I was lucky enough to get a little bit of instruction on using and holding a knife several years ago. I found this video of last year's Top Chef Hung demonstrating some basic knife skills. I have to admit that I didn't like Hung at all and I totally wanted K.C. to win (why did she have to mess up the final challenge so bad?). Barring that I was hoping for Dale to take the cake but whatever. That is last year's news. Say what you will, Hung did have mad knife skills so it is never a bad thing to get more pointers and a differing viewpoint.

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Technorati

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Have A Heart, Help A Server

At one point of another we are all guilty of ignoring the person helping us. We get involved in a conversation or wrapped up in our own ongoing dramas and end up treating the person assisting us (be it a server, store clerk, barista (ahem), or guy at the BMV) like crap. Rachel Widomski got an even worse deal than most. After chasing someone who had skipped out on his bill she was hit by that guy in his car and her spinal cord injuries will leave her paralyzed for life.
All that because some jerk skipped on his bill.
Keep in mind that the majority of restaurant workers, store clerks, baristas (thankfully not me) and the such don't have any insurance and if they do it sucks (thank God I work for a great company that has fantastic insurance at a great price). Needless to say Rachel's medical bills are outrageous. So if you have ever skipped on a check (which I sincerely hope you never have), skimped on a tip, treated a server like crap (and they didn't deserve it) then here is a way to make that up a little bit. HaikuHelp is a site set up to accept donations to help Rachel with her medical bills. If you are in the Columbus area and are attending the gallery hop there will be a gazillion ways to help out Rachel (including just tipping your server, many of the local servers are donating their tips to help her out).

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Weekend Recipe Roundup

-French Chocolate Brownies at Columbus Foodie
-Champagne-Orange Vinaigrette from Veg Cooking Blog
-Turkish Pilaf with Pistachios and Chickpeas from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
-Vegan Blueberry Muffins from The Vegetarian Times
-Nectarine and Blueberry Slump from Chow.com

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Herb Baked Eggs

As you know I joined the Barefoot Bloggers. Last month they had their first recipe which was Ina Garten's herb baked eggs. I did my homework and I read through the various comments that people posted about the recipe so I knew to use a 10" porcelain ramekin and I set the broiler to high. What I forgot to do was move the shelf up so the eggs were 6 inches below the heating element. I did have to bake the eggs for an extra few minutes because of that. Over all it was an okay dish. I can't say I was in love with it. I do like my eggs a bit more on the done side so I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as is. I will make them again as a savory breakfast one cold Sunday (in the far future) and what I'll do differently is to add some herb mix to the bubbling cream and butter at the bottom of the ramekin and to also sprinkle some in with the egg whites and (very, very carefully) mix them into the egg whites as well as on top of the eggs.
p.s.
And mental note to self: put items on prettier surface when taking pictures. Nobody wants to see your scratched up pans.

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Strawberry Basil Martini

In honor of my strawberry basil vodka I figured I might as give as well give the recipe for a good strawberry basil martini. Mojo Lounge (in Columbus) makes a good version of these too.

Ingredients:
3 Strawberries
3 Basil leaves
1/2 ounce simple syrup
Ice
2 ounces vodka
Squeeze of fresh lime and a lime twist

Directions:
In a martini shaker mash the strawberry and basil leaves with a wooden spoon. Add the rest of the ingredients and shake it up. Strain with the lid into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a lime twist or a little bit of basil chiffonade. This way you don't even need specially infuse strawberry basil vodka to enjoy it.

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Gadgets: Garlic Zoom

I was out running errands today and I stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond to check out some lights for the outdoor set. While I didn't like the lights I found a little gadget that intrigued me. The Chef'n Garlic Zoom. I love gadgets, a lot! I couldn't resist myself and I just had to buy it. What could be more fun, right? Just pop it in and zoom, zoom, zoom! fresh minced garlic.

It was interesting but I don't know how much energy or time the garlic zoom really saved me. It isn't quite so easy as pop in the garlic, zoom it along the counter, and Voila! minced garlic. It takes some time, and pressure, to get the garlic zoom going and you can really only do one clove at a time. I guess if you really hate having your hands smell like garlic or if you just despise mincing garlic on your own then it could be a worthwhile investment. It might also make a fun gift for someone who cooks some but isn't a heavy duty cook. On the whole I don't think it was really worth the almost $10 I spent on it unless you have trouble mincing garlic because it does do a surprisingly good job of it.

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Grilled Portobella Goat Cheese Pitas

I just love how MyRecipes.com has these little instructional videos. It does make it easier for newbies like me to know what the heck is going on. I think the video for these sound really interesting. I'm gonna have to give it a go next week.

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Top Chef Lisa

All I have to say is that if Lisa wins Top Chef I will NEVER watch that show again. How in the hell she out cooked Antonia I will never know. That woman has been in the bottom, what, 8 times? And she is making it to the finals by scraping by every single time? Utterly unacceptable. I will admit that I do not know her personally but I don't think I would want to. Could she have a more sour demeanor? I just watch her body language and see the sour expressions on her face then I listen to her talk and I just want to spit she makes me so angry. I have had the displeasure of working with many people in the restaurant field just like her and they do just suck the life right out of the room.
How did you like her little comment after Antonia left? Aw, did she feel left out because she didn't get congratulated? Well I sure as hell didn't here her congratulate Richard or Stephanie when they came out of the Judging Table. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me so angry. In reality I don't think Lisa has a snowballs chance in hell of winning Top Chef. Stephanie and Richard are both so incredibly solid that I really don't see either of them, let alone both of them, tanking the final challenge. I'm just saying, though, that if Lisa wins then my love affair with Top Chef is over.

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Straberry Basil Infused Vodka

Right now I am experimenting with creating infused vodkas. My current project is a strawberry basil infused concoction. I originally started off adding 1 lb of strawberries and 1 cup of basil to the infuser then filled it to the top with vodka. From everything that I have read a mid brand of vodka is actually better to infuse than the top shelf (top shelves have their own distinctive taste and you want to go for the generic vodka taste but not the paint thinner taste of the cheap stuff). It is also very important to keep as much air as possible out of the mixture. That is why I am lucky to have gotten my infuser when a previous employer went out of business. You can also use any tight sealing jar and when you are done steeping your mix you just strain it with cheese cloth.
A great resource for figuring it all out (including ratios, to add sugar, to not add sugar) is Infused: 100+ Recipes for Infused Liqueurs and Cocktails
My infusion is working out pretty well. I just did a 1/2 way taste (you are supposed to let it set for a month out of light and heat) and it tastes pretty good except it is a little heavy on the basil flavor. Tomorrow I am going to remove most of the basil and add another pound of strawberries to the mix just to add a bit more of the fruity flavor to the vodka.

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Go Barefoot

It is official, I am a Barefoot Blogger now. Now, it doesn't mean that I blog with no shoes on (although I am not wearing shoes right now but that is totally beside the point). It means that every other week I'll be consulting the Barefoot Bloggers blog to see which of Ina Garten's recipes we will be concocting. I think it will be fun and give me chance to branch out to a bunch of different recipes that I normally would not have tried before. On the 12th of June I will be blogging about Pasta, Pesto, and Peas (guess what we're having for dinner that night Chris) and even better is that it is already vegetarian so I don't have to modify it at all.

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Mission 2: Washing the Greens

Okay, mission one is going to take awhile to complete. I have to wait for my new knife to get here, I have to get new pots and pans, maybe a new blender/ food processor and all that takes time to find and money to buy. What the heck, I can continue on with what I have though, right? Especially with Mission 2 which is the basics of the basics starting with washing the food.

Now you would think that I would have had this down to a science already and I mostly did. I do know that you should remove any rotting leaves or vegetation from your bunch and to scrub your veggies (with a scrubber for roots and rinds). Here are a few things that I did not realize. . .
1)That I was supposed to dry everything after washing. Water is the enemy of flavor so basically my sauces have been sleeping with the enemy
2)Apples have wax coatings that don't wash off so I probably have a mini candle factory in my small intestine
3)That you don't just run greens under running water.

That third step is a bit one because I do love to use different greens in salads or casseroles or just on their own. What I did not realize is how much dirt and little bugs get into these things that just rinsing under water won't get rid of. Yeah, evidently the correct method is to fill a bowl with cold water (or basin or sink) and bathe your veggies and greens in it agitating the water to let the little bits of gunk come free. Then you lift the produce out of the water, dump out the unclean water and repeat until the bowl comes clean (like washing your hair: lather, rinse, repeat) like this:



Now you'll see that I poured something into the water. A little bit of vinegar helps to kill any insects that may be living in your future dinner. I guess I'm gonna have to apologize to Chris for letting some meat get into dinner then? But do insects really count as not being vegetarian? Hmmmmm. . .I think I would rather not dwell on that for now.

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The Next Food Network Star

Oh Food Network thank you so much for giving me another reality "star" to hate. Lisa, honey, the only reason they are keeping you around is because you create drama and not in a good way. Was anybody else amazed by her faux Vulcan look? Put her in a jump suit and she could be T'Pol's sister (yes, a geek reference I know. I'll try to keep them to a minimum). Too bad she couldn't frame a logical, coherent sentence. What the heck were those three C's she kept blathering on about?

I really thought I was also going to hate Adam. There was something about him when he first came on that made me think "Jerk!" but I actually think I may end up liking him. He definitely has charisma. I also like his surprise when he was "safe". It showed some humility and that made him more human.

Shane, oh Shane, it was amazing how you made Sue Fogelson (sp?) feel bad about doing her job of ripping you apart. Way to go! Keep using that reverse psychology on those judges. Seriously I do think Shane has a chance if he can be more youthful. I wouldn't be surprised to see Shane, Kevin, Adam in the finals with Chelsea thrown in there somewhere (maybe in place of Shane?). Jeffery, I really don't think you'll make it mostly because of the lisp. I don't think people want to watch a half hour show of you lisping through your French cuisine. Lisa will probably go the way of Omarosa and I really wanted to like Nipa but girl gots some attitude on her. We'll see though, it is still anyone's game.

Was anyone actually suprised to see the comedian go? True, she shouldn't expect to be funny all the time but you can be entertaining without being funny. You'd think she had never been in front of an audience before? I also enjoyed the comment of it didn't really feel like a competition until she got sent home? Really? Have you never seen any one of the hundreds of reality shows out there? It isn't like this is season one of Survivor and everybody is shocked that somebody formed alliances.

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Mission 1: New Knife and Seasoned Skillets

Wow, there are a lot of knives out there. I do mean a whole stinking lot of knives that it really is overwhelming. I am, however, going to take the advice of Mommie Dearest (not my mother, D.'s mother and you'll have to ask her the story behind that since I forget most of it) and skip the ceramic knife. I will go with the Mundial 5100 Series 10-Inch Chef's Knife, Red. It came on good recommendation so I'll let you know when it gets here.

I have also realized that I am in desperate need of new pots and pans. all of my frying pans are falling apart (again, I only spent $15 on 5 of them so there you have it). I did make one good purchase though. I invested in a cast iron skillet but I did forget to season it. Stupid me I thought seasoning was what happened after you cooked in it long enough. . .but no, it's not. To season a cast iron skillet you have to heat your oven to 275 degrees and thoroughly coat your pan in a neutral oil (like peanut oil) and bake it in the oven for two hours. This keeps it from absorbing your other foods flavors. In essence the exact opposite of what I thought seasoning your skillet meant.
Crap.
Hope it isn't too late to fix that little mistake. Of course it would have been nicer if I realized this back when it was cold instead of doing it in 80 degree weather.

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Food Star

Tonight is the Premier of The Next Food Network Star on (uh, duh) The Food Network. I read through the finalist bios and it will be interesting to see which ones bring it and which ones I will love to hate. If you have some spare time and want to get to know the finalists check out their videos.

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